| Danny got his 1969 SS El
Camino in 1999. A family member had it sitting in his yard for a few
years collecting leaves and dealing with the weather elements. I am sure
you have heard the story a million times.. just never in your
yard. Danny told us "the car didn't run, so I towed to my
home garage for restoration. I had never restored a car before, but was
looking forward to doing all I could myself. I remember the first thing
I did to the El Camino was remove the trailer hitch from the bumper'.
Danny smiles and said "This El Camino's towing days were
over."
It's easy to see why. Danny's family business is automotive paint and supplies so you might guess that he has the best paint and body work possible, and you'd be right, but it didn't stop there. |
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With the help of his friends Danny took
the old family SS apart in his garage. The original 396 was not there
anymore so he rebuilt the existing 454. Danny told us "my
friend John Franceschi built the motor from scratch along
with transmission, electrical, and exhaust." One listen as Danny
drives by will confirm that this is not your grandfather's El Camino.
As mechanical was being worked on, Danny and his friends stripped the car getting it ready for body and paint work. It was not a frame off restoration, but as close as they could get to it considering the limited space. Remember, most of this was done in Danny's garage. Danny went on to say "I spent many hours underneath grinding away old undercoating. I then re-undercoated and painted the undercarriage." Next step, the body shop.
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6 months later Danny towed it to the body
shop where it remained for about 8 months. As it was being stripped to
bare metal and body work being done, Danny's task was picking a color
scheme.
"Owning an Auto Body Paint store
didn't help" Danny told us with a puzzled look on his face.
"I see a lot of different colors everyday, so I had a lot of
choices. I wanted to go for a modern day color rather than the
original colors for the 1969 era. I ended up picking a 2000 BMW
Titanium Silver Metallic." The Black Rally stripes definitely
accented the silver. After being painted they towed it back to Danny's
house again where they put it back together.
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Over the next couple days the
stout 454 was honed to a fine edge and when they started it up for the
first time a new name was christened, The SS Torch. Now it
was on to the new interior. This picture doesn't do it
justice. The interior was completely re-done. Take a look
the next time you see Danny at a club event or show.
Danny proudly boasted "This car always turns heads wherever I go. The compliments remind me of the many days and hours spent on this El Camino. My New Year's resolution is to drive it more to club events and meet other members." |
